Apparatus for unloading cars.



H. RICHARDSON.

APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING (JARS,

APPLICATION FILED JAN.17, IEHG.

Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

3 5 E S-SHEET l mwmm H. RICHARDSON.

APPARATUS FOR UNLQADING CARS. APPLlC ATION FILED JAN- n. 1916.

Famed Dec.19,1916.

H. RICHARDSON.

APPARATUS FOR UNLOADING CARS.

APPLKIATION FILED JAN. 17 l9l6.

Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- ll ll ll l lll' BAAAIAZ 11 ii u Zfla zeats as x HENRY RICHARDSON, 0F PASSAIC, NEW JEEEIFET'.

APPARATUS FOR untoanine cans To all whom it may concern:

Be it known, that I, HENRY RIcnARDsoN, a subject of the King of Great Brita1n, res1ding at Passaic, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, United States of America, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in A pa-ratus for Unloading Cars, of which the o-llowing is a specification. r

This invention relates to an apparatus for unloading cars and the features of the invention are particularly adapted to the unloading of grain from closed grain cars of ordinary construction.

The principal objects of the invention, briefly stated, are to provide an unwading apparatus whereby a car may be emp ied of grain ina minimum period of time, and to provide an apparatus which requires for its operation a minimum de tee of poweriand wherein there is no liability of the car getting beyond control.

YFurther objects of the invention are to provide for the eificient support of both ends of the car and for the easy and quiet reversal of the car from one direction of tipping to another; to provide an apparatus which is so constructed that it occupies a minimum space and may be compactly duplicated in parallel juxtaposition whereby two cars may be simultaneously unloaded and their contents discharged into a commomreceiving hopper; to provide atiltable table having such operative characteristics that the operation of the apparatusmay be eiliciently and certainly produced by a mechanism of extremely simple structural character; to provide for the automatic control of the operation of the apparatus and for the automatic interruption of such operation and the normal positive locking of the tilting table against movement consequent to certain positions of the bumpers which, during the operation of the apparatus, are positioned to prevent endwise movement of the car; and toprovide for the automatic uncovering of the door opening of the car during the tipping of the car, thereby avoiding the necessity of cutting away the system of boards by which the door opening is normally closed.

The above and other objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure l is a view in side elevation, with" Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec, 1W, iidiltt 17,1916. Serial m. 72,519.

certain parts in section, showing the improved unloading apparatus and a car in position thereon for the unloading operation; Fig, 2 is an end elevation of the same, showing also the arrangement of two of the un loaders in parallel juxtaposition; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same with certain parts in section. I I Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

The car to be unloaded is supported upon a tipping table 1 and is held during the tipping of said table against endwise movement relatively thereto by end bumpers 2. A pair of tables 1 may be arranged in parallel juxtaposition, as shown in Figs. Q'and 3, Where- 7 by two cars may be conveniently unloaded simultaneously, in which case, saidcars will discharge their contents into a common re ceiving hopper or bin 3 from which the grain is conveyed in any suitable manner to the elevators. Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be understood that a description of a single table 1 and the mechanism appurtenant thereto will be applicable to both tables and both sets of mechanism.

The table 1 includes a car supporting platform 4-. which is disposed in a transversely and inwardly inclined plane, z'.e., a transj verse plane which is inclined downwardly toward theshaft 3, and said platform carries rails 5 which extend between and aline with 1 the rails 6 and 7 of the track and, when the table 1 is in ahorizontal position, form a constituent part of the said track, the rails 6 and 7 having their portions adjacent the rails 5 arranged at relativeelevations corresponding to the relative elevations of the rails 5, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. Thus, the i car A to be unloaded occupies, during the unloading operation, a position of inward and downward transverse inclination, as is clearly shown in Fig, 2.

The table 1. has lateral extensions 8 and 9 at each side of the platform 4 and said extensions are arranged in straight transverse planes and are provided with downwardly projecting rocker members 10 formed as pinion segments and engaging horizontal racks 11 mounted uponv the I-beams 12 or other support for the table. An important feature oi the rocker memberslO is that the curvature of their en mgaging faces, 5. 6., their faces which coact with the racks it, is along an arc'which has as its center the approximate center of grave ity of the car to be unloaded, in consequence of which, the table, with the car thereon,

may be tipped to and fro in a longitudinal ers 2 project during the operation of the.

apparatus. Normally, however, said bumpers occupy a position below or substantially below the platform 4. Prior to the operation of the apparatus it is necessary that the bumpers should be elevated to project into the path of the car. For the purpose of raising and lowering said bumpers, the table 1 carries near each end thereof a system of gearing 17 having an operating hand-wheel 18 supported above the extension 9. The gearing 17 includes a pinion element which meshes with rack teeth 19 formed on the inner or rear face of the adjacent bumper 2.

The power for the operation of the apparatus may be developed by any suitable agent, but an electric motor 20 is preferably employed. It is convenient and preferable that the operation of the apparatus shall be automatically controlled by the position of the bumpers 2, that is, that when both bumpers are elevated, the operation of the apparatus shall be automatically initiated, and when either or both bumpers are lowered, the operation of the apparatus shall be automatically interrupted. Where an electric motor is employed as the power agent, the bumpers 2 may control electric switches 21, of which there are a pair, one adjacent each end of the table, the wiring being so arranged that both switches must be closed to effect a closure of the motor circuit. The switches 21 in the embodiment shown are each directly engaged by a projection 22 formed on a lever 23 and are normally held open. The

I levers 23 are pivotally mounted on one of the struts 13 for movement in a longitudinal plane and each has an angular extension 24 engaging the outer or front face of the adjacent bumper 2, the face of said bumper engaging the extension 24 being preferably curved to establish cooperation between said bumper and said levers 23. The levers 23 are pressed by springs or otherwise toward the bumpers 2, and when the bumpers are lowered, are held by said bumpers in position to open the switches 21, but when the bumpers are raised, are permitted to assume positions wherein the switches 21 close automatically These relations of the levers 23 close and establish the closure of the motor circuit, in this way initiating the operation of'the apparatus. It is, moreover, preferred to utilize the levers 23 as a means for holding the table 1 against movement from its normal horizontal position; and for this purpose, the switches 21 are mounted in fixed boxes 25 having openings 26 through which the projections 22 extend to engage the switches 21. It will be apparent that when the projections 22 extend through the openings 26 said projections will coact with the boxes 25 in the manner of bolts coacting with keepers and will thus positively lock the table 1 against pivotal displacement.

While it is within the broadest scope of the invention to employ various devices for producing the oscillation of the table, the mechanism s own is preferred. The operating means disclosed comprises a rotatable cam cylinder 27 having its upper edge formed as a cam 28 and provided with a rise 28, a depression 28 and two diametrically opposite dwells 28 located in a common horizontal plane. The cylinder 27 co-acts with a pair of vertically reciprocatory crossheads 29, related to the table 1 as pitmen, being pivoted thereto preferably by means of the rods 15 which form the pivots of the arms 14. The cross-heads 29 are movable in guides 30 and are provided with friction rollers 31 to engage the vertical walls of said guides. The cross-heads 29 are also provided at their lower ends with friction rollers 32 which engage the cam 28 of the cylinder 27. The said cam is preferably formed to provide a track for the rollers 32, and the latter are ribbed to engage the track, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The cylinder 27 is supported from a base 33 and its lower edge rests on rollers 34 carried by said base. The cylinder 27 is driven in any suitable manner from the motive agent. As shown, said cylinder is provided with a depending co-axial spur wheel 35 of relatively large diameter which is in mesh with and driven by a relatively small pinion 36, the latter forming an element of a reducing gear 37 interposed betweensaid cylinder and the shaft of the motor 20.

The car having been run upon the table, as shown in Fig. 1, the bumpers 2 are raised and the motor 20 set in operation, as above explained. The cam cylinder 27 is driven at a relatively slow rate of speed from the motor 20 and in the course of each revolution its rise 28 will elevate, first, one of the cross-heads 29, and then the other, the

two cross-heads moving simultaneously in opposite directions and one cross-head working in the depression 28, while the other is engaged by the rise 28*. Both cross-heads will simultaneously be engaged by the dwells 28, the elevation of which is selected to provide for a horizontal position of the table 1 and the extent of which is selected to provide for the said table remaining in a horizontal position for a period of short, somewhat momentary, duration after each tipping movement thereof and before the next tipping movement. Normally, the cross-heads 29 engage the dwells 28, as is clearly shown by Fi s. 1 and 2 and the extent of said dwells, as a ove noted, in conjunction with the relatively slow movement of the cylinder 27, afl'ords sufficient time for the operator or operators in charge of the gearing 17 to leave the table upon the raising of the bumpers 2, prior to the commencement of the oscillatory movement of the table.

Owing to the inward and downward transverse inclination of the platform 4 and the like inclination of the car A, said car may be completely unloaded of its grain by a succession of longitudinal tilting movements and it is unnecessary to resort to any transverse tilting movements or oscillations thereof to complete the unloading operation, in consequence of which the operating means for the apparatus may be of very simple mechanical character and, considering further that the approximate center of gravity of the car forms the center ofthe arc along which the car is oscillated, liability of the car getting beyond control is rendered negligible and it is altogether unnecessary to provide any special control apparatus.

It is to be noted that the cam cylinder 27 at all times provides a rigid support for both ends of the car and effects a quiet and reliable shift of the car from one direction of tipping to the other, thus counteracting any tendency to overbalancing due to the weight at one end of the car being greater, at a period of the unloading operation, than at the other end of the car.

When the car is tilted, the grain will sweep in a generally oblique direction from the elevated end through the open or partly open door, such oblique travel of the grain being through a plane inclined downwardly toward the center of the car in a longitudinal direction and downwardly and inwardly toward the lowest point of the door in a transverse direction. The number of tippingoperations required to effect the complete unloading of the car is relatively small, amounting, in average cases, to four effected during two revolutions of the cylinder 27. In a central longitudinal plane of the shaft 3, a raised horizontal rail 38 is provided, which is engaged by a rod 39,

'of boarding, thereby uncovering the door opening and avoiding the necessity of cutting away the boards in accordance with the usual practice.

It will be understood that no specific description herein contained is intended to put any limitation upon the scope of the appended claims which does not inhere in the language thereof.

What is claimed is 1. In a car unloading apparatus, a table tiltable only in a vertical longitudinal plane and having parallel rails for the car arranged at different elevations whereby the car will be supported in a transversely inclined plane in any position of said table.

2. In a car unloading apparatus, a table tiltable only in a vertical longitudinal plane along an arc whose center is the approximate center of gravity of the car and having parallel rails for the car arranged at different elevations whereby the car will be supported in a transversely inclined plane in any position of said table.

In a car unloading apparatus, a car supporting table provided with rocker members having their rolling faces arranged along an arc whose center is the approximate center of gravity of the car and horizontal members upon which said rocker members operate whereby the table is tiltable only in a vertical longitudinal plane in combination with parallel rails for the car arranged at different elevations on said table whereby the car will be supported in a transversely inclined plane in any position of said table. a

4. In a car unloading apparatus, a car supporting table tiltable in a longitudinal plane, a pair of vertically reciprocatory cross heads connected to said table at opposite sides of its fulcrum, and a rotatable cylinder having its upper end formed as V a cam and engaging the lower ends of said cross heads.

5. In a car unloading apparatus, a tiltable car supporting table, a pair of bumpers, one at each end of the table, the bumpers being movable into and out of car-engaging positions, operating mechanism for the table, a motor for the operating mechanism and devices under the control of said bumpers in accordance with their positions for controlling the starting and stoppage of said motor.

6. In a car unloading apparatus, a tiltable car supporting table, a pair of bumpers, one at each end of the table, the bumpers being movable into and out of car-engaging positions, operating mechanism for the table, an electric motor for the operating mechanism,

tlli

a pair of switches controlling the motor circuit, and devlces under the control of said bumpers in accordance with their positions for controlling the closing and opening or i said bumper means ing and stoppage of said motor.

said switches and thereby controlling the starting and stoppage 01" said motor.

7. In a car unloading apparatus, a tiltable car supporting table, movable car bumper means carried thereby, operating mechanism for the table, a motor for the operating mechanism, and devices under the control of for controlling the start 8. In a car unloading apparatus, a tiltable car supporting table, movable car bumper operating mechanism for the operating control of tion thereof, for locking the table against tilting movement.

10. In a car unloading apparatus, a tilt able car supporting table, a pair of bumpers, one at each end of the tab e, the bumpers being movable into and outrof car-engaging positions,operating mechanism for the table,

an electric motor for the operating mechanism, a pair of switches controlling the motor circuit, fixed boxe s inclosing said switches and having openings, and pivoted arms carried by the table and having projections to engage through said openings and efiect an operation of said switches, and havmovable car bumper- I ing other projections engaging said bumpers,

the bumpers in their lowered-positions holding said arms in their outer positions and in their elevated positions permitting said arms to move to their inner positions.

11. In a car unloading apparatus, a car supporting table tiltable in a longitudinal plane, a rotatable cam cylinder having a vertical axis, and operative connections between said cam cylinder and said table to tilt the latter when the cam cylinder rotates.

12. In a car unloading apparatus, a car supporting table tiltable along an arc whose center is the approximate center of gravity of the car, a rotatable cylinder having its upper end formed/as a cam, and a pair of vertically reciprocatory cross heads connected to said table at opposite sides of its fulcrum and having their lower ends engaged with said cam.

13. In a car unloading apparatus, a table tiltable in a longitudinal plane along an arc whose center is the approximate center of gravity of the car and having parallel rails for the car arranged at different elevations whereby the car will be supported in a transversely inclined plane, a rotatable cylinder having its upperend formed as a cam, and a pair of vertically reciprocatory cross heads connected to said table at opposite sides of its fulcrum and having their lower ends engaged with said cam.

14E. In a car unloading apparatus, a tiltable car supporting table, a rotatable cylinder having its'upper end formed as a cam, operative connections between said cylinder and said table, a platform upon which the cylinder is supported for rotation, a co-axial gear arranged at the lower end of the cylinder, and motor driven gearing having an element thereof engaged with said coaxial ear.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. 7

. HENRY RICHARDSON. 

